food

took the month of August off each year when he put the family to work on his ‘vacation’ project. The Beals all worked for Wyman’s alongside a crew from Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq people. As they all toiled on the fruit, Tim’s dad assiduously reported on the blueberry business beat. In the early 1980s, he broke stories on the first mechanical pickers, as well as the wild blueberry industry’s transition from organic practices to its widespread embrace of pesticides to control the dreaded maggot fly.

Tim’s California-born wife, Lydia, met her husband at the University of Maine at Machias. As a young couple, they chose to homestead in Washington County. “We wanted land, and we wanted blueberry land,” Lydia said. “We wanted to be somewhat remote, to have space and the freedom to develop what we wanted to develop.” Their 260-acre farm is at the end of a dirt road; just at the moment you think that you must have overshot the place, a driveway curls up past the Beals’ 10 acres of blueberries to reach their barn and home.

Last winter, the Beals extended ownership of the farm to their children, Nick, Jay, and Clara, who grew up in the blueberry fields. The packing building walls still bear faint blue smears where as kids they threw berries at each other. With help from Maine Farmland Trust, the Beals recently formed an LLC, the first step in making each child an equal business partner. Both of the boys are building houses on the farm, ensuring, like the Hanscoms, that the business will be in local family hands for at least one more generation of blueberry production. 

rebecca goldfine is a Maine native who reports on student life for Bowdoin College communications and writes the trail guide site | mainebyfoot.com Additional reporting here by Laura McCandlish.

For 6 servings

BLUEBERRY GEL

3 tablespoons frozen blueberries ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar ½ cup water 3 teaspoons

PIE CRUST

3 cups flour 1 ½ cup shortening 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons water

BLUEBERRY PIE

1 ½ quarts fresh Maine wild blueberries 1 cup blueberry gel 1 quart heavy whipping cream ½ cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FARM

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TABLE

Fresh Blueberry Pie

The legendary blueberry pie at Helen's Restaurant in Machias is made with Welch Farm berries and was featured on Food52.com last summer. Helen’s owner Julie Barker, whose father processed blueberries on his Washington County farm, says this original recipe, handwritten and stenciled, is unchanged since Helen and Larry Mugnai opened the restaurant in 1950.

1 Make the blueberry gel. In a double boiler over medium-low heat, mix together the frozen blueberries, sugar, water and cornstarch. Let simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.

2 Mix together the flour, shortening, salt, and water for the pie dough just until firm. Shape into a 9-inch pie pan, crimp the edges, and chill it for at least 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Then, once you are ready to bake, dock or prick the chilled dough all over with a fork and bake it for 25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Let cool.

3 Combine the blueberries and cooled gel together in a large bowl and add the mixture to the pie crust.

4 Whip the whipping cream with the sugar and vanilla and then spread a thick layer all over the top of the blueberries.

5 Garnish the whipped topping with extra blueberries. Chill until solid and can be easily cut with a knife. Cut into six generous pieces!

Enjoy.